Henri Leclair announced his intention to fight for France in the latest Mr Selfridge – but is he hiding something? (Picture: ITV)

Just when you thought Mr Selfridge was getting a bit too cosy for its own good, things livened up considerably in an episode which saw matters thoroughly complicated by the war.

It all kicked off, as the Germans became increasingly – and understandably – unpopular – with the removal of all German-made items from the shelves of the store, much to the bemusement of some of the staff.

But it didn’t end there, as Harry’s attempts to do his bit for the war effort took an unexpected turn when he was asked by British Intelligence to pay a covert visit to Germany itself. Clearly this wasn’t quite what he was expecting but you just knew it would turn out to be an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Although he wasn’t the only one looking for a piece of the action, as Henri Leclair, having spent the entire episode being eyed suspiciously by Thackeray, announced he was also off to fight for the French, now that the army was accepting ‘older men’.

Meanwhile, as half the characters appeared to have their eyes fixed firmly on the continent, back home the efforts to keep the patriotic spirit up continued, in the shape of a concert organised by the store.

You can always rely on a concert to be rudely interrupted by drama (Picture: ITV)

The show must go on….or not

Matters were further complicated on this front when Lady Mae, increasingly unhappy in her marriage to Loxley (who as punishment for her infidelities has now confiscated her bedroom key, meaning he can make himself at home in her room whenever the mood takes him), hooked up with the star of the show, tenor and old friend Richard Chapman (Alfie Boe).

Cue much wistful longing for the past and him attempting to persuade her out of the marriage (which she refused to do on account of getting a nice fur coat out of it, among everything else), in the sort of way that you just know will have repercussions at some point.

Still it wasn’t all bad news, as Victor – who announced he was returning to the restaurant business – popped the question to Agnes, while Miss Mardle still seems to be getting on well with her Belgian refugee lodger, despite the eyebrow-raising it may have caused.

Ultimately though the most dramatic developments were left for the concert itself (why do these things always seem to happen when a perfectly good concert is going on?) as Harry discovered he had to secretly and covertly leave for Berlin there and then, and Henri’s plans for battlefield glory were rudely interrupted as he was carted off by the cops on suspicion of spying.

All of which set things up very nicely for the remainder of the series – with the trailer for next week suggesting that Rose will be looking for answers when it comes to her husband’s sudden absence.

Metro Blogs is a place for opinions. These opinions belong to the author and are not necessarily shared by Metro.